ReactionArne Slot press conference: Win at Palace, goalkeeper options, defensive record and more

The Reds maintained their spot as Premier League leaders with a 1-0 result at Selhurst Park on Saturday, with Diogo Jota’s ninth-minute effort the difference.

Alisson Becker and – when he sustained an injury – his replacement, debutant Vitezslav Jaros, both made important saves to preserve another clean sheet and the three points.

In addition to an update on the fitness of Alisson and Alexis Mac Allister, who went off at half-time, read Slot’s post-match verdict at his press conference below…

On having the best winning start of any Liverpool boss with nine out of 10…

It definitely is [very satisfying]. And it’s actually also quite special if you know how many great managers Liverpool had. But I also said last week I think that I hope they don’t only remember me in one, two, three, four, five years only for this. We are hoping to do more special things than this. And it also says the luck I had that I inherited a very good squad and very good staff to continue getting the results that Jürgen [Klopp] had here as well.

On what made him see Ryan Gravenberch as a No.6…

He has certain characteristics to play in that position, and one of them is that he is really comfortable with the ball. Every time you play [it to] him, he knows what to do with it so he is really good in his one-, two-touch passes. But he is also very comfortable in turning away from his man so we can create an overload. But apart from that, where is the main focus for everyone? Probably if you make highlights of him, you’re mainly going to show his offensive work. He is tall, he can run, strong in the duels. The positive for him in being in this position is if he played a bit higher up the pitch, everybody is always talking about his goals and assists that he needs to do more. Now in this position, that’s not why we play him. But it’s also very helpful for him to play in front of Virgil [van Dijk] and Ibou [Konate], to play next to Macca [Mac Allister] because it’s a big help for him, those players, as well.

• Read our match report from Selhurst Park here

On the hierarchy among his goalkeeping options…

Alisson is our clear No.1, he is the best goalkeeper in the world. So, it’s always a blow when he gets injured, for himself but also for us as a team. But the positive thing for the team is – and it’s not only in the goalkeeper position but almost in every position – that we have a second option that is also really good. And Caoimh [Caoimhin Kelleher] has already shown that so it is quite clear then that he is the No.2. Otherwise the last time Alisson was injured I would have played Vit [Jaros], but I played Caoimh. So Caoimh is the No.2 and did really well. It’s very pleasing to see that even our third goalkeeper – because Caoimh was sick yesterday and today of course – can have an impact on our results.

On the secret to Liverpool’s strong defensive record in the league…

There’s a lot going into this, there’s a lot of answers to tell you to give you a good answer. But one of the things is, I think you saw today how much we controlled the first 60 minutes. Then we had for 15 to 20 minutes a difficult spell. And then in the last 10 minutes we took control again. We took control by having a very good build-up and that helps to also tire – I don’t know if that’s the way you say it – but tire the opponents because they have to defend a lot, they have to run a lot to make it difficult for us. And then the work-rate our attackers and midfielders put in is also extraordinary, and that combination with a few other things – because it’s also the quality of the centre-backs and the goalkeeper – leads to so many clean sheets.

On Wataru Endo’s impact off the bench…

I think that’s one of the most positive things I see in this team, that even if a player comes in five to seven minutes – such a big player, captain of his country coming in five minutes before the end – I sometimes at certain clubs or certain other teams I see then a player coming in a bit like, ‘You only use me for five or seven minutes?’ But if you look at how Wata came in – how good he was on the ball but also the second balls he won – he had only in these seven minutes a very good impact. I think that tells you a lot about the team cohesion but definitely also about the person – in this situation, Wata. That with only playing five minutes he gives that performance, that says a lot about him as a person but also a lot about the team cohesion.